⭐⭐⭐.5 🌶️🌶️.5

The Fiancé Dilemma is a charming small town romance with some endearing quirky characters and a whole lot of crazy wedding scheming! After reading The Long Game, I was excited to head back to Green Oaks and learn more about Matthew (Adalyn’s best friend).

In a book where so many hilarious & outlandish scenarios take place, I really needed to have Matthew’s POV to understand why he’d go along with it all. Because it was single POV, I struggled quite a bit to connect with their romance and it made the first half of this book hard to get into. Don’t get me wrong, Matthew said and did ALLLL the right things, but his flirting & caring didn’t pack as big a punch for me and seemed out of place without being able to dive into his thoughts.

As the book neared the end though, the story really picked up with great slow burn spice 🔥 and way more insight into Matthew’s feelings & motivations! He quickly becomes a top shelf book boyfriend and it mostly recovered this book for me.

If you’re looking for a heartfelt, fake engagement, small town romance with offbeat characters & yummy spicy moments, The Fiancé Dilemma could be for you!

There hasn't been an Elena Armas book that I didn't love so no surprise here that I fell in love with The Fiance Dilemma! The growth that Josie and Matthew go through is beautiful.

The daddy issues that Josie has (which hit home hard) were hard to read because all I wanted to do was jump in the book and give her the biggest hug. She deserves the world and all the love that she shows to others to return to her tenfold.

Matthew, Matthew, Matthew!! The mouth on this man haha. I loved his character and just how much he cares for Josie and shows her. He is the definition of actions speak louder than words.

This was an amazing slow burn because when the spice hit....OH THE SPICE HIT!!!

The ending of the book was perfect and I am so glad that I got to read this book early <3

Thank you Atria for the review copy and SimonAudio for the access to the audiobook (I read this one though)! I really enjoyed this book despite not being sure that all of the plot themes and the romance were all that believable. Sometimes with a fun romcom filled with laughs and tropes... you just enjoy the ride and the laughs and the slow burn. I leaned into let's just have fun with this story, I recommend that approach for reading/listening to this one.
I laughed a lot at the set up, not because it was trite but because I think Armas wanted us to laugh as readers picture some the scenes (a hand stuck in jam, the over the top PR person trying her best to make things work and stay full energy). I enjoyed the romance even though it was a little too predictable/forced and also a little too slow burn as the romance got a little lost in the fake wedding/fake fiance plot. At the same time, the small town setting, the ideas of family and found family, and the overall romance and ending worked for me.

this is 4 stars because I think it was 100% meant to be a fun frothy summer romcom and that is what you get!

Thank you @atriabooks for our copy of The Fiancé Dilemma!🫶 This book comes out today, July 30th!!

Genre: Romance
Rating: 4 ⭐️

Thoughts: I thought this was a fun, swoony romance read and I connected with this book more than the first one in this series! If you like the fake dating trope, you might want to read this one!

If you haven’t read this author, my favorite book of hers is The Spanish Love Deception!❤️🫶

3.5 ⭐️

how cute was this! a fun, quirky, slow-burn romance between a woman who’s known for her failed engagements and the most golden retriever man to ever exist in fiction🤩

Josie is known for her (four) failed attempts to walk down the aisle. She’s never really figured out why that is, but when her famous father comes back into her life (quite unwillingly) she becomes the ‘setback’ or ‘misstep’ in his reputation according to a popular gossip podcast. To save herself, she tells his PR strategist that she’s happily engaged a fifth time to her sister’s best friend, Matthew. Queue a long-winded plan on how to trick the world they’re happily engaged without hearts getting involved and feelings getting hurt.

Josie is a hopeless romantic who hasn’t had the best of luck with dating. I liked her quirky personality and her rambling when she was nervous. Matthew is THE best gold retriever book boyfriend to exist, I loved him!!!! a blonde man with glasses??? who is also a simp??? 🙂‍↕️ I loved how much he was willing to do for Josie and to protect her from her father and the media.

I really liked the premise of the story and how it felt like a movie, it just felt super rushed and choppy in places and I wanted more development to the characters and the story!! I think this had some potential to be 4.5-5 star if the story went a bit smoother but that’s just me!

I overall really liked the book and the characters, I would recommend this if you’re wanting a SLOOOOW burn romance with banter and tension, movie-like storyline & the simpiest mmc to ever exist!

Thank you Atria Books, NetGalley, and Elena Armas for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Check it out (today) July 30th💘

The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas 💍

I love all of Elena’s books, but this is easily my favorite from her. A slow burn with plenty of treats along the way.

Josie is a romantic that's been engaged multiple times, but never actually made it down the aisle. For one reason or another things didn't work out with her past relationships and she's decides to take a little pause. That's until her and Matthew end up in a fake engagement to help her case when PR about her estranged dad starts up. Josie and Matthew knew of each other from a group text chain, but they hadn't met in person before. When Matthew shows up on Josie's driveway he's immediately roped in to being her fake fiancé. Josie feels bad for dragging Matthew into it, but he's more than happy to go along with the plan. Of course, Josie has to keep reminding herself that this is temporary and isn't real, despite everything feeling so real.

Matthew. 😌 I was right there with Josie drooling over that man and his glasses. He was so incredibly sweet and always knew when to say the right things to distract her or reassure her. While we don't get any chapters from his POV until the very end, I don't feel like I missed out. It being solely from Josie's POV added tension and enhanced the slow burn aspect. I was hooked wanting to know what Matthew would say to Josie next to help hint that his feelings had grown to something more. I mean this man liked to "collect" her different smiles and pick his favorite ones. Plus we get a backwards hat moment! What can I say, I'm a simple gal. I loved him.

Josie was such a sweet character as well. I feel like people may judge her for being engaged 4 times and not ending up married, I mean that's how her and Matthew end up in their fake engagement. But she's such a lovely and relatable character. She's someone who takes care of others before herself, always. So getting to see Matthew step in and show her what it finally feels like to be take care of and put first was adorable.

💍 fake fiancé
🌲 small town
🦮 golden retriever hero
🥰 soul mates
❤️‍🔥 slow burn
👓 he wears glasses
👏🏼 no third act breakup

single POV
5/5 stars ⭐️
1.5/5 spice level 🌶️

2 ⭐️⭐️

I wanted this book to be better but the premise was convoluted from the very start. First, with her having 4 previous fiances she left at the altar, then with the sister's best friend being a hot guy who literally walks by her house as she's having a dilemma and she claims him as her fiance like??????????? THE SETUP WAS JUST a lot to wrap my head around. Let alone the whole billionaire dad thing who her fake fiance also used to work for it was just A L O TTTT. I also saw the author say like you didn't need to have read The Long Game to get this book and I did read it back in January but I felt so lost having not remembered these characters Adalyn and Cam and felt like I needed to go back and re-read the Long Game before having read this and I don't like feeling that way.

The podcast cut ins that were supposed to be like really cutting and whatever were very lacking. They kept saying like 'oh there were so many insights about you in those 5 minutes' and I'm like where??? I don't really understand their purpose aside from driving the fake wedding narrative along. I just felt like it was poorly executed.

Now MATTHEW was hot. He was the only good thing about this book and we didn't even get chapters from his POV which is another gripe I have about this book lol. But he also just seemed to kind of....hm. fall in insta lust or love with her or wanting to protect her or whatever I'm not sure but there was just like he was resistant at first and then seemed to just be REALLY into her and being cute and sexy and flirty to her like a switch flipped and yeah he was being hot and those were really fun scenes to see them get right to the edge of kissing or doing all the touching and stuff but it also seemed pretty unbelievable to me. Again, the setup was just really.. yeah.

I can't say much for our protagonist who I didn't love or understand very well. The panic rambles were not my favorite. And again the 4 fiances I really.. yeah. There were some nice quotes in this book but the author had a tendency to repeat them multiple times over the course of a few pages which kind of diminished the impact of the quote to begin with, you know? I really loved The American Roommate Experiment and Spanish Love Deception but I'm not sure what happened with these last two books. This one really missed the mark for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Another banger release for Elena Armas!
I have no words but a good keyboard smash:
FNEOSNSOANDIENXISNSISNZONEZKSNNS

Josie and Matthew were the absolute cutest. I giggled, kicked my head, smashed my head into a pillow, gnawed at the bars of my enclosure. What more could I ask for? Another female character to keep in my pocket, and a male character to go feral over.

There’s something about Elena’s book that just make me.. feel good. Grumpy and sunshine characters I can relate to and have a soft spot for. The Fiance Dilemma definitely was an all around fun time for me. Mood: lifted!

So lucky to have received an advance copy through netgalley, because the wait would have killed me.

And in conclusion:
Blonde men with glasses supremacy!

Okay. Wow. This was incredible. Elena truly put so much into The Fiancé Dilemma, I am insanely proud and so so thankful for NetGalley, Atria, and Elena for the arc.

Releases: July 30th in the US and Canada / August 6th in UK, AUS, NZ

I am being so for real when I say I dropped my phone and cried when I got the email that I have been approved, like what do you mean I got an arc of one of my most anticipated releases of the year??? Like I have been obsessively checking all of Elena's posts about Matthew and Josie because I was hooked from the launch!

Matthew and Josie had my jaw drop. Like fake engagement, small town romance, runaway bride x4, slow burn, phone sex, etc. I mean the cards were on the table and had me aching for more. And hey, a man who wears black rimmed glasses can do what he pleases and say what he wants, because goodness I was eating out of Matthew freaking Flanagan's palm. Whatever had Elena writing him, gimme a billion more. Everything this man said was perfect. Literally hit after hit, there were no errors in his making. His dirty mouth, sweet-smooth talking, consideration, fun and carefree attitude (unless you mess with Josie), all of it just perfectly embodied him and oh I just know I will be re-reading him forever as I adored him in The Long Game and even more so here.

Josie, my girl, the trust issues and second-guessing were definitely there. But I have to say I love fmc who genuinely speak their minds and get so flustered that they mess up what they say and in turn end up embarrassing themselves, because, hi, hello, I am the same (which of course, I am embarrassed about). I loved seeing her build the relationship with Adalyn, Matthew, Cameron, and herself. (Also, pause, Cameron and Adalyn are so underrated, I adored seeing them appear in here, and if you read The Long Game, you know Matthew's feelings toward them, iykyk). No, but seriously, Josie was cute in The Long Game but to get the full depth of her and Matthew in here was so important and made their character arcs that much stronger and better. Seeing her open up and begin to accept that "hey, that's right, I should have been treated better during this and that," was super important, especially seeing Matthew pull that out of her too.

In another note, their relationship was everything!! I fear I may have gone deranged, because I have 270 highlights... we will not speak of such other than how was I not to highlight all the cute moments between them that had me giggling and twirling my hair as if I was on the receiving end...? All those important little things in a relationship? Highlighted. All the ways he spoke about her or defended her? Highlighted. All the sexy things he said? Highlighted. etc etc etc.

The forced proximity, the slow burn, the angst, all of it was done beautifully by Elena for Matthew and Josie and truly I am so happy I got to read them so fast. "Beautiful things shouldn't be boxed. It eventually dims their light." Tears! <3

Thank you, Atria, NetGalley and Elena for the arc, I love y'all so much and am so thankful I got this!!! <3333

Happy publication day (July 30, 2024)!
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC! My opinions are honest and my own.

The Fiance Dilemma - Elena Armas
3/5 Stars

Josephine “Josie” Moore is the mayor of a small town, owner of a cafe, and known for having been in not one, not two, but FOUR engagements that did not end up in marriage. She finds out that her father is the infamous, rich Andrew Underwood and now somehow finds herself - and her engagement history - under the scrutiny of the entire world. In hopes of trying not to embarrass her estranged father, she pretends that she is engaged (once and for all) to Matthew Flanagan, her sister’s best friend, who just happened to be visiting.

----

This was a cute book! I hadn’t read "The Long Game," the book prior to this which is about Adalyn, Josie’s sister, and I wish I had since there is character overlap. It was still pretty enjoyable and not absolutely necessary to read the first installment before this one (the author states this in the introduction), but I think it would have been helpful.

The predicament in the beginning of the book that Josie finds herself in was pretty unbelievable and honestly I was cringing the first couple of chapters. It felt chaotic. And I didn’t understand how yet another wedding would save Josie’s reputation.

But the saving grace to this book was Matthew. Honest, sweet, supportive…yet knows exactly what to say to heat things up. I absolutely adored his nicknames for her and how he knew when she needed a distraction from her swirling emotions. Because of him, even though the engagement was supposed to be fake, it didn’t feel that way at all. I wish we had more chapters in his POV!

Key Elements:
Fake Engagement
“Baby Blue”
Sister’s Best Friend
Sunshine x Sunshine
He Falls First
Small Town
Estranged Father

Spicy Chapters: 14, 20, 23

Quotes:
“Maybe I would help any stranger. But it’s you I’m going this far for.”
“Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light.”
“I don’t need her to walk down an aisle, wear my ring, or sign her name on a dotted line. She’s my happy.”

💜 Small Town Romance
💜 Sister's Best Friend
💜 Fake Engagement
💜 He Falls First and Harder
💜 Quirky FMC
💜 Golden Retriever MMC
💜 Swoony Nickname
💜 Complex Family Dynamics
💜 Cameos from the leads in The Long Game

This was such an adorable small town, engagement of convenience romance! Josie is has been engaged 4 different times and for *reasons* has never gotten married. After a PR issue arises due to her famous father, she pretends to being engaged for a 5th time. This time, it's to her sister's best friend, Matthew.

Josie is a quirky and caring female lead who does it all for the small town she loves. Literally, as she's the small coffee shop owner, mayor, and events chairperson. She has a complex relationship with her father who suddenly thrusts her into the spotlight and her life gets turned upside down. After a comical start, Matthew comes in to help save her from the social media pariahs. I absolutely adore Matthew and he became a major book boyfriend contender! He's compassionate, loyal, and not afraid to stand up to people. He falls first and hard for Josie all the while keeping composed and having the patience of a saint, especially with some of Josie's off the wall antics. This is a slow burn romance but Matthew is a KING at flirting and edging. And when the spice hits-🥵. Just the right kind and amount of dirty talk!

Note: This is a spinoff from The Long Game but can be read as a standalone.

Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for my advanced copy in return for my honest review!

The Fiance Dilemma is the exact type of book I'd expect from Armas these days. It's fun and quirky with a miscommunication trope that doesn't lean too hard into the lack of communication we see so often. Josie was an endearing character we met in The Long Game and getting more of her backstory was a treat, and to mesh that with Matthew, who had previously also only had a supporting role, was a blast. I think if you go into this book looking for quirky fun you won't be disappointed. I'm also a sucker for the nickname "sweetheart".

A huge thank you to Atria books, Simon & Schuster, & NetGalley for the #gifted eARC 💛

Ratings (out of 5):
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 & 🌶️🌶️.5/5

“He was my sisters’s best friend. A person with a life, that I’d pulled into my mess.”

The Fiancé Dilemma was my first Elena Armas novel and it did not disappoint! This story is an interconnected standalone with The Long Game, and while you don’t have to read that story before reading the Fiancé Dilemma, I’d recommend it. There are some spoilers for that story that directly connect to the Fiancé Dilemma. You can definitely enjoy this story on its own (I did!), but I’ll probably go back and read The Long Game at some point.

“Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light.”

Elena Armas’ characters are absolutely DELIGHTFUL! Josie is this sweet, innocent mayor of a small-town who through miscommunication and error ends up fake-engaged to her sister Adalyn’s best friend Matthew. Matthew is this sexy, nerd who has Josie’s back throughout this crazy plan. He was nothing like I expected (he has QUITE a way with words 🥵😂👀). The fact that Matthew becomes Josie’s biggest supporter throughout the story was such a treat to see. It’s a slow burn, BUT WORTH IT 👌🏻🔥

Romance aside, the author’s writing style is a breeze to read, and I enjoyed how she balanced both the romance with Josie’s journey to self discovery. Josie has a complicated relationship with her estranged father and goes from being passive to embracing her life and her past. I always love reading stories that balance both characters with good arcs and romance!

💍 I cannot wait to read Elena Armas’ other books! I had so much fun reading The Fiancé Dilemma—it was like watching a Hallmark movie. If you love small-town romances and the fake dating trope, you should check out The Fiancé Dilemma! 💍

I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to Josie and Matthew story. I love Josie’s quirky awkwardness that had me laughing out loud!! Matthew is the sweetest most understanding man that I couldn’t help but getting caught up in their fake engagement and the craziness then ensues!!

I’ve enjoyed a lot of Elena Armas’s novels and know many of the characters in this book. Despite that I had kind of a tough time grasping and believing the connection that was developing between Matthew and Josie. Friends definitely, but the chemistry felt a little forced and the pace of the story a little too quick.

I do love a small town romance with quirky characters and fun gossip but the feeding frenzy established by the paps and bloggers kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought I would but still like this author a lot and look forward to a new setting and new characters to get to know.

SO FREAKING CUTE!!! everything a fake engagement book should be. Matthew is so freaking swoon. the slow burn is everythinggggg!

Josie learned that she had an unknown sister when Adalyn came to town, forcing their father to recognize her as well. But for him, having a secret love child he's never acknowledged is a PR nightmare, especially when Josie's had not one but four broken engagements. Enter Bobbi Shark, PR consultant and Josie's worst nightmare when she catches her wearing an ex's ring. She just needs a fake fiance to get Bobbi off her back.
Recently fired and ashamed to tell his family, Matthew arrives in Green Oak to visit his best friend Adalyn only to make a wrong turn and get his car stuck in the mud. When he tries to find help, a crazy woman in a bathrobe covered in jam and bleeding claims that he's her fiance. She seems desperate so he agrees to go along with it. Things get complicated after he realizes she's his best friend's sister and he's starting to have real feelings for her. But how can they find something real when they started this relationship all backward?
If you like the Julia Roberts movie Runaway Bride, you'll love this book. Josie even sarcastically references the movie when describing her fiance situation! Despite their whirlwind wedding planning and crazy meet cute, this is a slow burn romance where you can tell Matthew is falling easy before Josie ever does. Matthew had issues with her narcissistic father in the previous book with his best friend Adalyn, so I loved how protective he was of Josie right from the start.
I've loved this author ever since I discovered The Spanish Love Deception on Booktok, so I was so excited to get an early ARC. Matthew Flanagan is no Aaron Blackford with his sexy silent smolder, but Matt's goofy cheer, sarcastic jokes, and dirty talk are a close second. And those glasses...pheeww! Looking forward to whatever she writes next.
Thanks to Atria Books through Netgalley for the advance copy of this book. The opinions in this review are my own and given voluntarily.

I DNF’d this book at 20%
From the very beginning, the FMC was kinda offputting, but I thought it would get better and in the 20% that I read she didn’t. Then on top of that, I feel like in a story like this dual point of view would have been better because when we meet the MMC, and the FMC is essentially pushing this marriage of convenience scheme on him, It would’ve been nice to hear his point of view. Especially because he was so against it. The FMC was so desperately pushing this marriage of convenience scheme when the MMC said no multiple times. He didn’t allude to being uncomfortable, he was uncomfortable. He was very clear that he did not want to do it and the FMC knew that and she put him in a position he clearly did not want to be in. It was very uncomfortable. And then, with the lack of dual point of view from the MMC’s character once the scheme gets a bit underway, There’s this tension between the two and these lusty feelings that feel like they came slamming out of nowhere, the lusty feelings that she was having toward the MMC honestly didn’t make any sense. They came on so fast and not in an Insta love kind of way, but just weirdly intense feelings with no reason behind them and since the story is only told from one perspective, it feels one sided. I read a lot of reviews and all the issues that I have don’t seem to get better as you read so I didn’t bother.

This book is my new favourite of Elena Armas and that says a lot because I loved The Spanish Love Deception so much. The Fiancé Dilemma changed my favourite trope from enemies to lovers to fake engagement/fake marriage. This book was EVERYTHING! I loved the sexual tension between Josie and Matthew. And what's even better? There is no third act break up which is so refreshing to see. Both characters grew so much and it was so nice to read a book that I looked forward to reading every day when I woke up. Huge FIVE STARS for The Fiancé Dilemma! Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in an exchange for an honest review.

"Fiance Dilemma" by Elena Armes is a GEM in the world of romance books. What truly stole my heart was Matthew—he’s not your typical romantic male character. His kindness and understanding set him apart, and the way he TECHNICALLY falls for Josie before even meeting her is both endearing and refreshing. Elena Armes crafts a narrative that's as much about emotional depth as it is about love. The story isn’t just about romance; it's about genuine connection and the beauty of finding someone who understands you completely. "Fiance Dilemma" resonated with me on so many levels, and Matthew’s character will stay with me long after the last page.